I'm Tired Of medications ~ Vent ~ Rant ~ Whatever You

[Janna]

want to call it.

Now, darnit, Dylan was doing pretty good emotionally, even off the medications. He was very, very hyper. Very, very off focus, no attention span at all, but he was OKAY.

Yesterday afternoon started the Dexadrine. He's taking 10 mg. at 8 AM and 2 PM. He took his yesterday PM dose, and the two doses today. He is still on the Flonase (put a call in to the Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) pediatrician about that one today) and on Synthroid (which, I have been warned can be stimulating).

He shut down at dinner tonight. We stopped at Taco Bell as we were out bopping around town. He had the Game Boy, which typically he could care less about, and I asked him to pause the game over dinner. This has never been a problem before. He didn't pause it, I asked again, warning if I had to say it again, it would be taken. Well, he didn't, I took it, and he fell to the floor, chewing all over his shirt, crying in the middle of the restaurant. Ugh.

Then came home, asked him to take a shower, another episode. Not a rage, like he used to, but crying.

Pretty hyper still. Chewing on his clothing like crazy. This was a once in a while occurance that has been all day today.

Maybe the transition home for him is just too much. I dunno. But truthfully, I don't want to go through this again. I'm really sick of medications. Really. It just ain't worth it.

Argh.

 

[SRL]

Sorry this is happening, Janna.

Maybe it would have been better for him to start the new medication in the highly structured environment of Residential Treatment Center (RTC) instead of a home visit which represents a huge change in his routine?

 

[jannie]

Hi Janna-
Sorry this is happening. Could he may be having additional stress by being home? He could just be overexcited and happy--Extra exceitement definately could lead to more meltdowns. Does he have the Game Boy at Residential Treatment Facility (RTF)? If not, maybe he was just thrilled to have it back--

Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Happy Thanksgiving :thanksgiving2:

 

[TerryJ2]

I hear you! Poor thing. All of you!
Do you think it's the dexadrine or Synthroid? I don't know anything about Flonase. Have you been able to talk to anyone at the Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) to compare notes?
Sorry so many questions.
I hope he's calmed down by now. And I hope things go well on Thanksgiving.

 

[crazymama30]

That is how my difficult child was on stims alone. It is no fun and I am sorry you had to go thru that.

 

[smallworld]

Janna, I'm sorry Dylan is struggling.

Dexedrine, like any stimulant, can exacerbate anxiety. That's why you may be seeing increased shirt chewing. Furthermore, it wears off after about 4 hours and can cause a rebound effect of increased mood lability. That's why you may have been the crying and melting down at dinner and afterwards. The dose may be too low, he may need a long-acting stimulant, the medication may not be the right one -- it's really hard to know because as you well know, it's all a trial and error process. You should definitely report what you're seeing to the Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) and see what the docs there say.

Hope you have a better day tomorrow. Happy turkey day.

 

[Hound dog]

Janna

I might be mistaken, but as I understand it dexidrine is a fairly strong stimulant even for an adult. I'm not well versed in the treatment for ADHD (I'm assuming that's what they're using it for). But I, myself, would be very wary of having my child on that one. I can't recall ever hearing an up side to that medication.

I'm so sorry. Poor Dylan. I hope the right medications can be found soon.

Hugs

:thanksgiving2:

 

[DammitJanet]

Dexedrine turned Cory into a little monster when we tried it on him when he was around 9 or 10. I cant remember why we tried switching but after that he went onto Adderal successfully. I think maybe they were slightly longer acting than plain ritalin but maybe Im not remembering correctly. I dont even remember if the extended forms were out back then.

Im sure both Jamie and Cory went on them when they came out.

Jamie stayed on ritalin but Cory was on the adderall until he went off it at 13.

Its all trial and error. Even Jamie had a bit of let down at the end of the day with the ritalin and for a very short time when Cory was at his worse, Jamie took tenex at night to get over the rebound. We think stress played a part. He took it for about 6 months and then went off.

It may be that Dylan has to adjust to a stimulant or that it isnt the right medication for him. I guess you simply have to give it the old college try again.

 

[timer lady]

Janna,

I agree with SRL - wrong time to start a new medication, so close to a holiday pass & such. The excitement along with the stimulation of family plus the loss of the highly structured environment might just be driving difficult child over the edge.

by the way, sweetie, we all tire of the medication merry go round. It's such a fact of life with our little wonders. It's more the holidays that drive the tweedles over the wall. I remember the passes from Residential Treatment Center (RTC) - how hard kt or wm tried to maintain.

I know that wm asked many times to go back - he needed the environment, the staffing there to help him maintain. There just weren't enough of us here at home.

Take a deep breath - send Dylan outside to blow off steam (I'd have wm run 12 times around the house; if that wasn't enough, he'd do it again. The physical activity really helped him.)

 

[LittleDudesMom]

Hi Janna,

My two cents would be that Dylan is dealing with a combination of things. The transition home for more than a day, the holiday, the gameboy (that he probably can't have in Residential Treatment Center (RTC)?), the new medication.....

A lot going on for him right now. I think I would tend to agree with the majority of posters that this was not good timing on the part of the docs to begin this new medication with the first long trip home (and a holiday to boot).

I'm sorry Dylan, and subsequently all of you, are suffering. I hope this morning dawns to a less anxious and calmer young man.

Hugs,
Sharon

 

[SRL]

One more thought: try giving Dylan a gel ball to divert some of that motion to. Sometimes that can be a great help to a kid who is in high stress and needs motion, sensory stimuli.

If Gameboy helps him get through, so be it. Let him play until his eyes are square if it helps him maintain in what is obviously a challenging change. by the way, handheld video games are pretty standard regulating tools for a lot of the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) boys of Dylan's age.

 

[Janna]

Thank you, everyone :flower:

He switches from the Playstation II (which is timed) to his Game Boy, SRL, and I'm not complaining lol. He seems very agitated this morning.

I have a call in to the psychiatrist. He is on call. I haven't given him his morning dose of the Dexadrine yet, and won't until I get a call back.

The nurses say this medication does take time to get into the system and show improvement. I want the psychiatrist to call me back to confirm this. I think Dylan's anxiety is definately through the roof, and it's unfair to blame it on the medication this early (although I'd like to), because they only started this medication 2 days ago, 2 days before a long TL (Theraputic Leave). Stupid on their part, for sure.

I've talked to several moms in the last 24 hours that say they did have good success with the medication, but it took a bit. I'm okay with it taking a bit, but not over the Thanksgiving holiday when I have 11 people coming today, I'm doing all the cooking and everything else, and I don't need the stress of my son laying on the floor, crying, chewing his clothing or anything else. Ugh!

I'm not sure about the Synthroid or Flonase, Terry, but that's a good concern, too. I'm going to talk to the psychiatrist, again Monday, about d/c the allergy medications altogether. Unimportant now, especially this time of year. He goes for another blood draw on 12/5 for a TSH level. If the level is good, I think the Residential Treatment Facility (RTF)'s plan is to d/c the Synthroid and refer to the endocrinologist. It's alot.

One day we're all gonna look back at these days and laugh.

Right? :slap:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone :thanksgiving:

 

[mum2JK&TH]

It's interesting about the chewing clothing. My difficult child used to do this ALOT! It's only when you mention it that I have realized he doesn't do this anymore.

Dexedrine caused the same emotional meltdown with my difficult child, the crying. I think even with the Ritalin though he chewed his clothes.

When Dylan was having the meltdowns would it have been around the downtime of the medication working? I know with difficult child with both the Dexedrine and Ritalin, you could tell when the medications were starting to wear off. We all dreaded that time, he would either cry or rage, but it was dramatically emotional that's for sure.


(((HUGS))) I am surprised that they would trial this while he's at home and not at the Residential Treatment Center (RTC).

 

[mstang67chic]

Ugh! What is it with Gameboys this week! LOL Sorry things are happening like that. I'm wondering too, though, if it isn't a combo of starting a new drug plus all of the activity and stims from being home, the holiday, etc.

I've never heard of Synthroid being a stimulant. I'm on it myself and when I asked about possible drug interactions with it I was told that there aren't any simply because it is replacing a chemical in your body that isn't being produced the way it should. But, I also don't have ADD/ADHD and I'm not on the spectrum so that could affect things I suppose.

Probably not the brightest time for the Residential Treatment Center (RTC) staff to test a new drug on him but give it time. Also, I think I would let him play the game boy as much as he likes to help calm him for the holidays. All of the excitement is enough to send a easy child his age through the roof so I'm sure it's even worse for Dylan. Hang in there and if the kitchen gets too hot from all of the cooking, you could always make yourself a nice frozen drink....or three!